Camp Monserrate

Week Four Campers of the Week!

2011-07-26T12:43:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to those honored with an honorable mention or Camper of the Week for week number 4. The theme was "religious," which is where we built up our faith and belief in ourselves that we could get the job done no matter how difficult something may seem.

Honorable Mentions: Angel Robles, Oscar Animas, Eduardo Gomez, Givanny Perez, Ralphy Gomez, Justin Santiago, Raquawn Tillman, and Devin Santiago

Camper of the Week: Christian Rodriguez

It's difficult to believe the summer is almost over, but there is still work to be done. The last week is themed "Committed to Doing Justice."

Going to see Bombino

2011-07-23T14:14:00.003-04:00

The day was going well until my cabin got a 7.5 in inspection. After that the day started going fine again. what really woke me up was when Mr. Arte announced thatt there were people that donated tickets for us to go to a concert. The counselors had to pick four people in their cabin who are leaders. My counselors picked the four leaders and they were: me, Joshua, Gustavo, and Kenneth A.

During dinner, Mr. Arte told us to go change, but we were all worrying about if we got dessert or not. When we were done getting dressed, we were ordered to go to the school bus. The artist's name was Bombino and he is an African singer. He is very talented, even though I didn't understand what he was saying. At the concert, we danced a lot, took pictures, and some of the kids went to Bombino to get his autograph. Sadly at the end of the day, we didn't get dessert.

By Alex

Copperas Pond

2011-07-23T14:04:00.006-04:00

It had all started in the bus drive to Copperas Pond and we were all excited about the big rock. We were also talking about how many times we were going to jump. I said about 40 times. Then we got to the trail and we al got out and started the small hike of about 0.5 miles. We went up, but we accidentally went up the wrong trail and we did a mile instead of half, which had wasted about 10 more minutes. After we all got up we went to the lean-to so we could unpack. Then we all went to the rock. I was so nervous even though I did jump it like 100 times before. So Genaro, my counselor, went first he came he came up out of the water in about 5 seconds. Then, I was next, I jumped and BAM! I hit the water with so much force and a lot of water went up my nose and mouth, but I didn’t really care because I did it again. In the end I counted all my jumps and I literally jumped off 80 times. The sight of the pond was pretty amazing to me. I felt was really happy to be back. The water to me smelled like a smell of a jungle. So to be more specific it smelled like nature. The sound was cool and I like the splash after each and every person jumped. The taste of the water was really weird it tasted disgusting to me. I was sweating so much so the feeling was like mixing hot water with cold water and it felt really refreshing. I was upset when I was leaving, but a least I had fun for my last year.

By Christian R.

2011-07-21T21:13:00.004-04:00

The Viper
by San Miguel Oquendo Jr

Once there lived an old lady, who stayed by herself in an apartment. She was watching the news as usual one night when a bulletin was flashed: "Alert! There is a man on the loose who goes by the name of the viper. He likes to go after rich old ladies."

Hearing this, the lady SCREAMS: "I am an old rich lady. What if he’s coming here!" So saying, she runs to the door and locks it. Just then, the phone rings. "AH!" The lady’s hands begin to shake as she picks up the receiver. "Hello," a man’s voice says at the other end, "I’m the viper you called for and I’m going to be there wery soon!"

The lady almost faints. "AH! He is coming after me! I must call the cops," she tells herself. With trembling hands she somehow makes the call. "We’ll be there in 20 minutes," the cops tell her.

Just then, the phone rings again, and this time the old lady’s legs are shaking as she picks up the phone: "Hello?" "Yes, it’s me, the Viper, and I am almost there."

Hearing this, the old lady screams even louder! "AAHHH!!!" Once more she tries the cops but they are not answering. She panics. Someone knocks on the door. Praying and hoping that it’s the cops, she opens the door. A small man holding a bag in his hand is standing there. "Hello," he says. "I am the Viper…" The lady does not hear the rest of the sentence. Clutching her chest she sinks to the floor. She has had a heart attack from sheer fright!

The small man looks at her in shock. "… And I had come to vish and vash your vindows," he finally completes his sentence. Not knowing what to do, and not wanting to get into trouble, he simply walks away.

The next morning, the milkman found the old lady dead on her doorstep.

"She died from heart attack," the doctor was to say later, but no one quite understood how or why.

A few days later, the same small man who had called upon the old lady and announced himself as the 'viper', was walking in the streets with his dog. One of his neighbors saw him and asked him where he was going. "I am taking my dog to the wet," he replied with a smile. "He vas out in the rain last night and has got fewer."

(with inputs from his ELA teacher)

Week Three Campers of the Week

2011-07-19T19:32:00.003-04:00

Week three was all about being loving. Loving camp, loving your cabinmates and friends, loving life. We were fighting the hate with love.

Honorable Mentions: Tyler Garcia, Oscar Carrasco, Ariel Torres, Joshua Carrion, and Steven Mena

Campers of the Week: Cristian Martinez, Marcellous Valentin, and Kenneth Asamoah

Congratulations to all these campers who had a great week!

2011-07-18T14:51:00.002-04:00

The Olympians’ Fredom
by Daniel Tejeda

Once upon a time, a god named Mars went to war against the Titans. He was the general of a mighty jet called the M16 hydro active jet. While Mars was in the jet , one of the Titans shot the jet’s wing off with a trident. The jet went out of control, and crashed onto the ground. When the Titans went forward to check if Mars was there , they could not find him. The Titans then went back to their cargo plane and headed home. While they headed home a bloody hand came out from the smashed plane. All of a sudden a body showed up: it was MARS!

Mars got out of the wreck and went along the path which the Titans had taken. Mars had no mercy. So, he followed the path to get REVENGE for what the Titans had done . But the path soon disappeared.

Several days past, but there was still no sign of Mars. Jupiter sent some gods to find him. While the gods were looking for Mars, Mars had meanwhile stumbled across a castle, after which he turned back. Before long the other gods met Mars, and together they all went to mount Olympia to talk to Jupiter.

When they got to the top, Zeus’ wife Hera welcomed them and invited them to a feast. Mars told Jupiter to send an army to defeat the Titans, but Jupiter asked, “Where is your jet ?” Mars replied “I don’t know. It is stranded .” On hearing this, Jupiter thought for a little while and then told them of his plan. The gods would all attack the castle.

While all the gods were approaching the castle, they were all stopped by a Cyclops that was on guard. Then they began to fight each other. Jupiter led the way. He picked his thunder bolt and sliced the Cyclops up! Jupiter went into the castle with the others. While they walked in, they saw millions of titans working in harmony, as if there were a program controlling them.

Then up came the god of the sea, Neptune. He picked his trident up in his hand and swamped the millions of titans under a huge mass of water.

When those titans were killed there weren’t any enemies of the gods left; only the biggest and the strongest Cyclops the gods had seen. It gave out the biggest roar they had ever heard and charged at them. The gods were running out of time. They huddled together and thought hard. Venus said that if all the gods combined their powers, they would defeat this monster. Hearing this, the gods combined their powers and directed it at the monster, under which the monster vaporized.

So now the gods are without enemies and they shall always be alive as long as their myths are told.

Phones

2011-07-16T08:54:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone,

The camp phone in the dining hall was not working this morning. So, if you tried to call during breakfast and it just rang, I apologize we did not pick up but we did not hear it ringing.

I think we have solved the problem and you should be able to get through during lunch from 1pm to 2pm.

Everyone is doing fine and we are welcoming over 15 alumni of camp back up for a weekend. They bring a lot of excitement and fresh faces to camp. It should be a fun weekend.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to call camp at any time to talk to me. Or, call during meals to talk to your sons.

Mr. Arte

2011-07-14T15:05:00.000-04:00

THE HAUNTED MANSION
by Luis Tejada (Grade 6)

One day a boy named Christian and his family moved into a mansion. They did not know that it was haunted by a man named Pfetzer who was evil and who had died there around the 1980s.

The day after moving in they all went shopping, with only the dog left behind to guard the mansion. When the family came back from shopping the dog was nowhere to be found. Only the dog’s blood was to be seen on the floor. Fearing the worst, the family called the cops. But the cops did not find evidence of who had killed the dog.

The next morning when the family woke up, they saw blood all over the walls. A message was written in red letters. “I’m going to kill you all”, it said. They once again called the cops, but when the cops got to the mansion the blood and the writing were all gone.

That night when they went to sleep the family heard frightful screams. Terrified, they tried to get out of the house but the doors were locked. Then knives started flying around. Christian was so scared that he tried to run away but one of the knives went through him and he slumped, all bloody, onto the floor. The knives followed all the other members too, and killed them all.

To this day no one has gathered enough courage to go into that mansion again.

Week Two Camper's of the Week

2011-07-13T19:58:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the late notice, but here are your honorable mentions and campers of the week for week two. The campers were working on being "intellectually competent," which meant doing the right thing and knowing why they were doing the right thing.

Honorable Mentions: Eduardo Gomez, Branden Ruiz, Jordan Ledgister, Cristian Martinez, Adrian Cruz, and Marcellous Valentin.

Campers of the Week: Gerardo Arriaza and Brandon Aguayo!

Look at the pictures to the right in the album titled "Second Sunday Talk and Mass."

This week's theme is LOVING. We look forward to honoring students again for all their hard work this coming Sunday.

Singing for Inspiration

2011-07-12T15:00:00.002-04:00

My favorite two singers are Michael Jackson and Drake. These two singers inspire me to wake up in the morning. They also inspire me to follow my dreams. I always hear these songs everytime I am happy and also sad to get me to dance and to make me be active. I always wanted to sing, so everytime I want to write a song I always listen to a song of theirs for ideas.
Anthony P.

Super Powers

2011-07-12T14:05:00.002-04:00

If I could have any super power at camp I would have teleconsis. I would want this because then I can move things to scare the campers. Also I could be able to take stuff from camp that is cool, like CJ'S G-Shocks. I can also do work without moving a muscle. In inspection I would make all the dust go into other cabins and I would make everything better. I could go to places without moving because I would use my powers to lift me up and take me to a different place. If I really had this power I would most likely be home. That is the power I would have.
Jaun G.

The Rain At Camp

2011-07-11T14:33:00.003-04:00

The rain storms at camp are crazy because it rains and it gets very windy. Last night we were going to chapel for night talk and it started pouring. We had to have night talk in the main hall. We also had to run to the cabin. If any thing but water would come down, I'd like it to be Brownie sundaes. The sundaes have to have vanilla ice cream, whip cream, hot fudge, and a cherry on top. If Brownies sundaes fell from the sky I won't eat any meal but dessert. I would also make a house out of it. It would not be hot and it would not melt. It would also erupt from a volcano while it is raining.
Giovanny P.

Beaver's At Camp

2011-07-07T10:21:00.009-04:00

Camp Monserrate's pond has been taken over by beavers building their dam. Here are a few free writes campers made imagining themselves as a beaver and what they might think once the camp moved in for the summer.

Hi, I'm Pimentel the beaver. I would think of Camp Monserrate as a good place. I would think this because it's full of trees I can cut down. It's full of wood to make houses. I also think this because in the night, I can sneak into the dining hall and eat food. I would think of Camp Monserrate as a jolly place.

Chris Pimentel

If I were a beaver, I would think that Camp Monserrate is a weird place with a bunch of humans. I would go around camp biting all of the campers and counselors. I'd bite CJ the most because he's big, which would make him a threat. Then I would go back home (the pond) and continue to make my wall until it's huge. Then I'd break it down so that the camp will flood and my house would expand. Plus no more humans playing around my house.

Christian Mendez

The Pool

2011-07-05T11:43:00.006-04:00

When you first enter the pool, the water is ice cold and your nostrils are full of chlorine. When you get out your limbs are numb. After you get out there is always a breeze that makes you feel like you’re trapped in an iceberg. It is like walking into a blizzard with wet shorts on. Yet the colder you are when you get in the pool the warmer you are. The only thing that keeps you motivated are CJ’s chants. There are some funny moments too.

Cameron P.

Most people think the pool is cold, but it is not, it is only the wind that blows when you’re not inside. I hear chatter from people I see them at the corner of the pool. When CJ asks, "Is it cold?" we say "Heck no it ain't cold, we won't fold, we want some more, we want some more.” The funniest part of swimming in the pool is when Kenneth Cherry got thrown in to the pool for his birthday. It was funny because he was all dry and dressed. Everyone was laughing so hard and Cherry really didn't care. He thought it was really fun and cool. I can't wait to play water pol0.

Christian C.

Rest Periods

2011-07-04T14:12:00.002-04:00

During Rest Period, which is after lunch, the campers go to their cabins. When there, they can read a book, write a letter, or rest (hence the name "Rest Period."). Should a camper's bed/shelf be disorganized, a counselor will help that camper clean it. Some kids show that they don't have integrity (the camp theme) by talking and fooling around. Rest Period is where most campers go after lunch. Others, however, have jobs such as Sanitation, in which one cleans the bathrooms (wiping toilets, plunging them, etc.)

Samuel N.

Hola as todos los mama y papa. Hello to all the mothers and fathers. I want to talk to you about my secound favorite thing to do at camp. After my favorite time of the day, we have Rest Period. After lunch we go to our cabin and sleep for an hour. During that hour time frame, we can read, sleep, or write a letter to our family, but we have to be quiet. I love to sleep or write letters to my family.

Marcellous V.

Week One Campers of the Week

2011-07-03T20:50:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to those honored for having a good first week at camp. The theme for the summer is: "Whenever we walk, the report will go around." This means that we are trying to build our integrity and act correctly no matter who is watching us. The theme for the week was "open to growth."

Here were your runner's up, your honorable mentions to camper of the week: Patrick Romero, Daniel Tejeda, Tyler Garcia, Gerardo Arriazo, Rodrigo Avila, Christian Castro, and Tony Muentes.

The campes of the week were two sixth graders. Two guys new to camp and the schools and still very open to growth. They showed a lot of leadership and are off to a great start to the summer. Congratulations to the Week One Campers of the Week Sagonie Urdaz and Kenneth Hurtado.

We all look forward to seeing how the campers put their best foot forward in week two. It has been a great start to the summer thus far!

Our Camp Goals

2011-07-02T10:42:00.001-04:00

My first impression was that we would have a fun five weeks. That this was a safe space, where people treated each other with respect. And guess what, I was...right! I'm having fun at the pool,(it's coold as snow, literally) and fun even in classes. I have the best counselors here.

At the pool, I swim, teach, and learn a lot. I like silent reading time. It's really silent. I love it here.

My goal for the summer, is to be a kind hearted, respected, strong, open to growth, and a camper with integrity. I hope that comes to happen. I want to say hello to whoever is reading this, also to say that us campers are fine! P.S. Dad I hope my family is doing good back at home. I love you!

Rodrigo A.

Based on our first impressions at camp I see me doing well in all areas. I also think since we have a lot of maturity, our cabin will defiantly be earning other people's respect. I think later in the camp session it will all be the same. The only thing that might be different is a greater respect for the bathrooms. But overall the camp session so far is a good one because I figured out that I have two goals for the rest of the camp session. The first is to help with what needs help at camp. The second is to be a counselor on Camper's Day and be a Camper of the Week if it's possible. P.S. Mom hope the family is doing good at home, including Nemo and my turtles.

Christian M.

First Thoughts About Camp

2011-06-30T11:26:00.003-04:00

I see that this summer is going to be fun. It is going to be fun because I'm out of the city. Another thing is that I get to meet new people. I have met Matthew, Joshua, and Bryan. Sometimes you may get homesick and miss people but you will get over it. In the future, I think that camp will be more fun because we will be the future counselors of camp. If I was a counselor, I would spend more time with my cabin playing games. This year, I want to pass my swimming test at camp because it is more fun and you get to show people that you are able to swim.

Oscar C.

I think that camp is fun. It's goood because I'm making good friends and I have fun playing in free time with them. And I am trying new things in camp. If you get to know everyone it will be better because you will have more friends. In the future it will be better because you will know what to do in camp if you were a counselor. I can help people learn how to swim, and to make camp fun.

Jose R.

Back Up

2011-06-29T19:38:00.002-04:00

Camp Monserrate did not have phones or internet until this afternoon.

If you have been having trouble getting through, please keep on trying during meal times. Your sons will start phone calls home today (Wednesday).

Check back soon for blog posts written by your son during writing class!

Click on the 2011 Camp Photos link on the right for pictures soon too!

Camp Monserrate 2011

2011-05-17T10:17:00.002-04:00

In order to prepare for Camp Monserrate 2011, the old posts have been taken down. They are still available to right in the archived section. Old pictures from the past camps are also still available.

Come back at the end of June to see what the boys from NMC and SIS are up to at Camp Monserrate this year! They will be giving you daily updates written during their camp writing class.

Campers Day

2010-09-01T00:02:00.001-04:00

On Campers Day the campers that have proven themselves to able to conduct themselves as leaders over the summer are able to become the councilors and staff of Camp Montserrat. The actual councilors and staff are able to be one of the campers for example Benny R. became Gio P. and Ms. Wilkinson became Ruben R. Some of the most important jobs were Director (Osaze W.), Assistant Director (David G.) and Academic Director (Alex C.). They day went really smooth other than a couple hiccups in the morning. In fact it went so smooth that Mr. Arte was able to leave the camp to run a couple of errands.
The day started relatively normally except the campers ran everything except the kitchen (that’s Val’s domain). In the afternoon after rest period, there was a camp wide group activity played in the Coupiola Field. After we all got super sweaty we went over to the pool to have our annual Swim Carnival. The campers competed in four strokes in their heats then went to championships. The four strokes were freestyle, breaststroke, sidestroke, and backstroke. This year there were upsets. It was good competition and afterwards the boys from Buffalo’s Nativity School. We had a funny dive contest (there were some painful belly flops). We had dinner and a short group discussion then we watched Lake Placid the Movie. The day was closed by a word from David G. That day was maybe one of the most exciting days of camp.

My Cabin

2010-08-03T13:19:00.003-04:00

This overall camp season has been the best out of my 3 years being here. First things first are that I loved my cabin mates in every way describable. Also, I think we all pushed each other to get a camp shirt and we all strived for all our goals. My cabin mates and me have great aspects, one is we are the best hikers. My cabin hiked over 15 miles and one great thing about our hiking status is that we were the first in 8 years to hike WhiteFace, 5th tallest in NY. This hike was my personal favorite because we all had experience of being scared and trusting each other because we almost got struck by lightning. We won inspection twice and we had an awesome overnight hike. So on those notes……I LOVE MY CABIN in general. :)

One event I spent with my cabin that really stood out was the Overnight hike. It was an exciting experience for me. We went to Copperas Pond, a .5 hike, and had fun. We jumped off the big rock in the water, and when we jumped we had to shout a random thing. Most of them were jokes on other people in the cabin, but none of us took to the heart. After that, we started the fire, we had to find branches, Birch bark, and later on we had to find logs and I found the first and my cabin mates started helping me. Then we ate some foil dinner that was prepared by our director, Mr. Arte. Then we played some manhunt and I won. Later on, we started roasting marshmallows and I got a nice burn on my lip. After that, we settled in and before we went to bed in the lean to, we heard a Scary Story told by my great counselor, Gabriel. And that story gave trust to all of us brothers to keep one another safe. We didn’t go to sleep till 1 o’clock.

Posted by: Ruben

Day 31: July 27

2010-07-29T14:55:00.001-04:00

I think today was the best day of my whole camp season. When I came back from Copperas pond in the morning, I took the best shower ever. We all then had classes. After classes cabins 1 and 4 went to the pool and only cabin 3 went to the overnight to Copperas Pond. We had lunch then rest period. My cabin went canoeing for the first time.

Cabin 4 or “The Elite” went stream walking. We went stream walking behind the dam and we did it because we deserve it. We did stream walking by walking on the stream and we did it in the afternoon. Cabin 4 had a great time stream walking.

Posted by: Steven & Ivan

Day 30: July 26

2010-07-29T14:40:00.001-04:00

Yesterday went by normal. We had breakfast than inspection. We went to the pool and then lunch. Anyway during the first group activity some people wanted to play knockout. The rest of the cabin wanted to play dodge ball. Josh then came out of the cabin and said we would play the new game. We all moaned. After the first game we started to enjoy it. We loved it so much we asked to play it for the next activity. The was one of the best group activities in the whole camp.

Posted by: Brandon

2010-07-28T10:47:00.001-04:00

Cabin 4 Elite: Overnight at Copperas Pond

2010-07-28T10:29:00.004-04:00

The Elite went on its first overnight hike away from the Camp Montserrat campsite. There was a different atmosphere at camp in the morning. Many people from the Elite were anxious and excited. Though we have been to Copperas Pond in the past, none of us has ever been on an overnight hike. The Elite had to miss a various amount of activities that the rest of the campers had to do such as inspection and pool (activities that pleased some campers but annoyed others). While inspection, the Elite were packing the necessities they needed for the trip. After Lunch the campers said goodbye and farewell and the Elite were off to the first overnight hike of Camp Montserrat 2010.
The trail to Copperas Pond is a very tough trail mainly because of its steepness. It was especially hard because of the things we had to bring such as food, sleeping bags, swimming equipment, etc. It was tough but the Elite stuck it out and made it to the pond. Once the Elite got there, they went to the campsite and changed into their bathing suits to begin swimming. A select few campers of the cabin jumped off the big rock into the pond. These campers were Siree K., Christian R., Andrew S. and Sergio V. Once the jumping was over and the sun was finally setting, the campers began to play a game called manhunt (which is a mixture of both Tag and Hide-and-Seek). Sergio V. eventually won both games we played. After, we ate foil dinners (a camping dinner stored and heated in aluminum foil) that taste better than it sounds. When we were done we all began collecting birch bark to strengthen the fire. Once the fire was nice and hot, we began toasting marshmallows (many of us preferred a burnt one but I liked mines golden brown. We all had about 4 each which only meant one thing… none of us went to sleep!!! We all stayed up until 11:45pm telling stories and cracking jokes until, one by one, we slowly fell in to a deep sleep.
In the morning we all packed up and helped out cleaning up the campsite. The Elite eventually left the campsite at around 6:45am and got back to Camp Montserrat. During Inspection we spent time unpacking and washing up (us all smelt like eggs when we came back).
All in all it was a fun day. It was a great way to start Week 5.

Posted by: Osaze W.

Day 29: July 25

2010-07-27T14:59:00.004-04:00

On July 25 we played a good game of European Handball. European Handball is a game you play in the outdoors and all you need is six cones and a rubber ball. The campers started to win in the beginning. The Iron Men which are all the counselors and directors were too strong because of CJ’s fast moving and good throws and because of Benny’s good blocks. Even though we lost by one for the most part it was a good game.

On that same day we had campfire. That was one of the best campfires we ever had. When Mr. Arte said we won inspection my cabin and I were so happy that we all screamed our lungs out. We knew we worked hard that week for that day to come, that’s why its one of the best campfires we ever had this camp season.

Posted by: Christian M.

Day 28: July 24

2010-07-27T14:48:00.001-04:00

Today cabin 4, The Elite, came back from camping out in Copperas Pond. After classes some of the campers were in the Geography Bee. Matthew won the Geography Bee Later on, Father Jack came back from his trip to Jamaica. During camp wide activity we played iron man kickball vs. the
Counselors.
In the Copbyola Field the campers played kickball vs. the counselors. All I see is a big green ball being kicked around, and I can see the green grass being step on. All of the campers were cheering on each other as we played the game. Even thought we lost by 1 we still had fun.

Posted by: Marcellous

Day 26: July 22

2010-07-27T10:54:00.002-04:00

I woke up with CJ stomping in my cabin yelling at my sleeping bag to wake up and I said, “What are you doing?” and he said “This is your punishment!” I walked out of my cabin and into the bath and took a nice warm bath. I went to breakfast and ate a delicious meal by Val the cook that cooks us breakfast, lunch, and dinner five days a week. I went to inspection and got down and dirty for a score of 7.5 which is pretty good but also pretty bad, and we are in the lead! After that I went to boring classes, I still have to do it even though it’s in the summer, but I like silent reading. I went hiking up the easiest mountain in the world and we only waited two minutes at the top. Then I had the best dinner that I ate all my life because I was starving. Then I played some ultimate ping-pong with my cabin mates until the bell rang. We watched a movie and that was about some old coach who won the high school division thingy. Then I went to sleep with the counselors scaring the heck out of all the campers. This was one of the best camp days of my life.

I love hiking because there is a fantastic view at the top of the mountain and it makes me feel good and fit. I see the beautiful plains pass the mountains like a movie scene and then I see a blinding flash from five cameras that the counselors have. I hear the huffing and puffing of my breath like a train rolling to the top of a hill. My mouth fells dry like a desert that’s killed many people like those killer deserts in the movie that have sandstorms. My head hurts like if my brain was on fire or like I had a high fever. This hike was the craziest hike ever.

Posted by: Jean Carlos

Day 25: July 21

2010-07-24T14:41:00.002-04:00

Today was a normal day we had breakfast. After breakfast we then went to inspection. After inspection we had to go to our first class and The Cavaliers didn’t have silent reading because we were going hiking. My favorite part was when we, The Cavaliers, went to hike Whiteface.
The Cavaliers, my cabin, hiked a mountain called, Whiteface. We got to hike the mountain because we are the fastest hiking group and we wanted to take the challenge. Normally, we hiked up, but we could not because there was another storm coming in two hours and we could not make down in time. So, we went an elevator, into a tunnel, and took a cab down the mountain. After everyone came safely down the mountain, we met up with Mr. Arte so he could give us money to go to a mouth watery tasty ice cream place called, “Mount Mist.” Everybody had a nice time at Mount Mist and were happy we made it down the mountain safely.

Posted by: Jeremy and Kenneth P.

Day 23: June 19

2010-07-21T14:44:00.002-04:00

Today was a normal day. In the morning we had classes and then went to the pool. After the pool, we had lunch and went to rest period. We then had group activity. During group activity, a thunderstorm rolled in. We then went to the main hall and went to our countdown spots. Mr. Arte said that we were going to have a camp wide activity in the main hall. The camp wide activity Mr. Arte chose was “Indoor Olympics.” They had pool, ping pong, air hockey, shuffle board, and dominoes. The champion of pool was Christopher P. The champion of ping pong was Cristopher M. The champion of dominoes was Ricardo. The champion of shuffle board was Sergio. The champion of air hockey was Siree. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go to the pool for the second time. Instead, we had an hour free time. Even though it was rainy, everyone still stayed positive like a warrior should react.

Posted by Joshua N.

Day 22: July 18

2010-07-20T14:59:00.001-04:00

Today started off with breakfast. After that we went to inspection, my cabin the Elite ended up getting a nine. Today we finally got a three for teamwork, after that we got ready for mass, then we went to the main hall where Mr.Arte talked about the new theme of the week which was being religious, and then he announced the four honorable mentions.

When Mr.Arte announced the honorable mention I wasn’t surprise that Elvin, David and Christian got honors but then he said my name, Chris .In my head I was like “what I got honors.” It was weird because it was my first time getting honors. The reason I got honors was because throughout the week my attitude was changing, and also because I was starting my work earlier than others. My next goal is to get camper of the week.

Posted by Chris M.

Day 21: July 17

2010-07-20T14:56:00.002-04:00

On Saturday July, 17 we woke up and hung out with the alumni of Nativity that had come back for alumni weekend. We had a regular day until after classes were we had our annual math bowl. The team of Cristian, Aldo, and Matthew won with every question right in the second round. After rest period we had our Ironman basketball competition. This was followed by our Ironman water polo. We all had a fun day with our big bro’s.
We took a hike over to the big basketball courts to play the Iron man basketball tournament. It was camper V.S. alumni/”Rusty old men” as we would put it. There were fourth quarters and we switched from 7th to 8th grade teams every half quarter. At the last half of the fourth quarter the final 8th grade team came on the court. We were down by four and the tension was building. It was all up to us, and we wanted it bad. We made a few points to catch up, but for every point we made they made two. In the end we were no match for the Ironmen.

Posted by Lemuel

New Call Days

2010-07-20T09:02:00.002-04:00

We have switched around the hike days for this week (Week 4). Here is when your camper will call you:

The Navigators (Cabin 1): Thursday, 7/22

The Cavaliers(Cabin 3): Wednesday, 7/21

The Elite (Cabin 4): Tuesday, 7/20

They will call on their normal day during week 5, next week.

Day 20: July 16

2010-07-19T15:03:00.002-04:00

Sigh! I look around with wonderment that overshadows the most absurd thought bubbles. Pop, pop, pop! The grass green richness shimmer its glossy richness. The sun’s fury blazes with its utmost heat, that can make anyone burn to crisp. But, fortunately the deep cool clouds shaded us from the blazing heat. A while later the clouds grew bigger and seemed darker every time I looked up. Cool droplets start to fall on the earth… 1, 2, and 3; and so on the cool water drop trickled down my throat. I seem to enjoy this peacefulness. After a while the clouds stop weeping.

When the sky was clear and the sun was as peaceful as a butterfly,we started to play a group activity. It was a wonderful time at first. But as the alumni came the game turned into something the service would think of as something pleasant. This game was hardcore dodge ball. I manage to survive many rounds but I faced many challenges from some alumni like Felix. I dodge them all! But, that came to a cost. I had many battle wounds. At the end this game ended with a fantastic laughter that made this day be remembered.

Posted by Andrew

Day 19: July 15

2010-07-17T17:51:00.001-04:00

On July 15, 2010 Cabin 4 went hiking. Right after they left on their hike, Cabin 1 and 3 went to the pool. Some people took the deep water test, which is where you show your ability to swim some laps in the deep. Since every camper in Cabin 3 passed the deep water test, they decided to canoe. Lastly a very special camper, named Steven (8th grade) had his 13th birthday.

My birthday was very exciting and a painful day at the same time. It was fun because while Cabin 3 was canoeing and Cabin 4 hiking, my cabin (Cabin 1) went to the pool and played lots of fun games and races that I got to choose. The day was painful because every single camper at camp gave me 13th birthday punches. By the end of the punches, I had a big huge bruise. After blowing the candles that Val made me, CJ assistant director smeared the cake on my face. What a great birthday ending.

Posted by Steven

Day 18: July 14

2010-07-17T17:37:00.001-04:00

On July 14, 2010, Camp Monserrate had another day of fun. It was an average day, nothing extraordinary. The Cavaliers got ready to climb the hardest mountain yet, Mt. Giant. We also had MLS, which was softball. The Elite won the Navigators by one. Other than that we had a pretty normal day. In the afternoon, 6:50 pm, the Cavaliers got back from their hike safely. And so went the day.

Posted by Cristian M.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010, my cabin the Cavaliers was hiking Mt. Giant. For me the mountain was hard and easy at the same time. The reason why it was hard is because of the steepness. The reason why the hike was easy is because I made my own short cuts and because there were some flat spots going up and down the mountain. Going down the mountain was pretty difficult. The reason why going down the mountain was difficult is because I had to use a lot of force with my legs. The reason why the hike going down the mountain was fun is because Ms. O’Leary was telling fun stories and I was telling some fun stories, and that made the hike pretty fun.

Posted by Adrian

Day 17: July 13

2010-07-16T14:48:00.000-04:00

Tuesday we had a great day. It was a great day because of MLS and the pool. In the pool Gio was my partner and he taught me a lot. He taught me how to stream line, breast stroke, and how to do side stroke. For group activity I played knockout and I kept on getting knocked out until the last time when I beat everybody and won.

Tuesday, MLS was fun because I was the shortstop and I did great. I thought Cabin 3 was going to win, but Marte hit a triple and brought in two runs. Then Andrew hit the ball and drove Marte in, which made the final score be 3 to 1. Then the Cavaliers lost and thanks to Marte and Andrew the Elite won.

Posted by: Christopher P.

Day 16: July 12

2010-07-14T14:45:00.000-04:00

Well during camp we have had 4 special guests: Mrs. O’ Leary, Mr. Campbell, Br. Jerry, and today our new principal Mr. Chap. Mr. Chap came to camp because he wanted to meet all the campers, and to see how Camp Monserrate looks like. My cabin The Navigators had played a game called Commando Hike with Mrs. O’ Leary. The good part the game we saw Lake Placid and we saw Mt.Whiteface.
So I told you that my cabin played Commando Hike. This is how the game starts: Mrs. O’ Leary is the leader and she has a whistle to make us stop so she can check how far back you are, and if you are far back then you have to help her out, and then she will blow the whistle again, and then she will start to count up to 15 seconds for us to hide. When she finishes she will try to spot you. When you are the last two, and she catches one person and the other will be the winner. If she catches both of you then you are not the winner. After that we would start all over again to find a winner. So that’s how the game is.

Posted by: Joseph

Day 15: July 11

2010-07-14T14:37:00.000-04:00

The day started out normal, which is, waking up and playing basketball. A lot of people take a shower on this day because this is the day we have mass and we have to look clean for God. Breakfast was normal, as well as inspection. When Holy Child passes us during inspection, we have to be very quiet because they are having mass in our chapel. After inspection, we got dressed for mass and went to the main hall for song practice and to announce honorable mentions and camper of the week. My cabin mates Osaze and Sergio got honorable mention, while my other cabin mate, Andrew S., won camper of the week. Other people that got honorable mentions were David G., Kenneth P, Adrian C., and Cristian M. after that, we had mass and the Reiss family came over to celebrate mass with us. We had lunch next, which went by right away. After that we had rest period. We woke up well rested to have field day. It is a competition of various activities, which includes: the soccer kick, lay-ups, softball toss, running bases, long jump, suicides, and the 50 yard dash. After doing those amazing activities, we went to the pool to cool ourselves down. After that we had normal dinner. After finishing dinner, we had to practice a song as cabin for camp fire. After song practice, we lined up to go to the campfire.

Campfire is a tradition where campers and counselors sit around a campfire with a stream in front of you to sing songs, do some activities, and to announce some activities won by cabins. The campfire rose high and was burning bright orange when we were singing songs and having fun. This week, Mr. Arte announced that The Elite won inspection. After that he announced the winners of Field day, which was Joshua N. of the 7th grade, and David G. in the 8th grade. After that, we song a few more songs and then we had night talk. CJ asked us to look in the fire and pray quietly, which was pretty peaceful. Then Mr. Arte dismissed us by cabin to go back to camp and brush our teeth. Once we did that we went to the cabins and listened to the night talk given by the counselors. After they were done, we were off to sleep.

Posted by: Elvin

Day 14: July 10

2010-07-14T11:13:00.002-04:00

During Saturday we had a Bible Bee, and the winners were Elvin and Christopher P. We had special guests which were Mr. Campbell, Mrs. O’Leary, and Fr. Jack. Right after the guests arrived we went to the pool to play water polo against the counselors. The campers lost to the counselors by two points; the score of the game was 5 to 3. To finish the day we had grade discussion and activity.
When we were playing water polo with the counselors; we needed to make three teams. We had to split up the teams by Team A, B and C; when CJ told us to do this Osaze and David took the lead to organize the teams. As Benny was running with the ball he passed it to Pedro, then Pedro passed it to Brandon. And Brandon made a wonder shot which he made in. When Brandon made a goal, everybody started splashing. When people were splashing water went up my nose and mouth then I started to smell chlorine. Even though we lost to the counselors I had fun.

Posted by: Joshua P.

Day 13: July 9

2010-07-13T14:46:00.000-04:00

I woke up to a warm day. Eating breakfast made my mouth sweet. We cleaned the cabin and had a wonderful time reading our books. We had two classes. People took the swimming test at the pool. We ate lunch and had rest period. We played the championship game of European handball and then went back to the pool. We ate dinner and went to group discussion. We had Group activates and we watched Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Cabin 4 and Cabin 1 were playing European Handball Coopayola field. They played on Friday afternoon for the championship. Cabin 4 won by skills and teamwork. Even though my cabin won, we still had fun.

Posted by: Ivan

Day 12: July 8

2010-07-10T15:08:00.002-04:00

On Thursday it was a pretty normal day until after dinner. My cabin, the Cavaliers, had won inspection on the first week. That means we got to go to eat ice cream at Mount. Mist. We were supposed to have had an hour there but we only got to stay or 15 minutes! The reason was because a couple of people were taking too long. When we got there our counselor got frustrated because we weren’t paying attention.

After we finished eating the ice cream we got on the bus to go back to camp. On the way back one of my counselors, Gabriel, put on music. He put on a song that said,”Platano platano.” The reason was because Gregory, my other counselor, is also known as platano.

Posted by: Ralphy

European Handball
The Navigators vs. Cabin Three

On July 8, 2010, Camp Monserrate resumed it’s month. As the Outlaws, Cabin Four, got ready to climb Mount St. Regis, the rest of us were working hard in inspection. Afterwards, in mid-day, the Monserrate League Sports took place.
For Monserrate League Sports, you play a sport against the other cabins. This time we picked European Handball. The rules are simple, grab the ball, run and try to bounce it on your opposing team’s triangle. It has to come out of the other side for it to be a goal. If you are tagged while you have the ball in your hands, you have to stop and try to pass it to someone else. My cabin, the Navigators, won 4-3. The goals were by Joshua N., Steven, Matthew, and Cristian M. (me). Next the Navigators will have to go against Cabin Four, the Outlaws. Wish us luck.

Written by Cristian M.

Day 11: July 7

2010-07-09T14:50:00.001-04:00

On a hot, sunny, day hiking Mt. Noonmark we were all sweating bullets. It was very tiring. The mountain was very steep, hard, and dangerous. I didn’t even have to use my pump which was a surprise to me because I have asthma.
Hiking down Mt. Noonmark, a brave trooper in my cabin named Kenneth P. sprained his ankle severely. Two of my counselors (Gabriel and Greg) were waiting for a helicopter to come get Kenneth, but the helicopter went to a different person who had a worse injury. So, forest rangers, Mr. Arte, C.J., Counselor Brandon, and the rescue workers had to hike all the way up the mountain to get him. Later on the other half of the cabin came down the mountain safely with the help of Br. Jerry. Once Kenneth got off the mountain, Mr. Arte brought him to the hospital. Fortunately the x-ray results in the hospital showed his ankle was not broken but sprained.
When my cabin came back to camp we did great without the two of our counselors. All of the adults relied on our cabin to be good. Once our counselors heard that we were doing well they gained trust in us. Next morning a remarkable thing happened Kenneth a.k.a. The Trooper was sleeping on his bed happy that he was back at camp.

Posted by: Alex

Day 10: July 6

2010-07-08T15:04:00.001-04:00

The day started off with GPS {Cabin 1) hiking Cascade. While GPS was gone the MLS {Monserrate League Sports} began. After the MLS games they started water sports because the pipe in the pool broke.
When GPS was on Cascade it was a sunny day. The hike was 2.4 miles and it was very steep. We saw many friendly people on the way. All of them said it is hard, but worth it so that motivated me. That hike got GPS closer because we helped one another. The view was the best.

Posted by: Christian Castro

Day 8: July 4

2010-07-06T20:41:00.003-04:00

On July 4th, we got to sleep in, because it was Sunday. It was the busiest day so far in the camp season. First, we went to inspection, while Holy Child was in the Chapel. Then, we had Sunday Talk, where all the awards were announced. Joshua P. won Camper of the Week, he’s in my cabin, and Lemuel won it too. Honorable Mentions were given to Erik & Alex. Also, we were told about the theme of the week and that is Intellectually Competent. Then we went to the Chapel and Father Jack led Mass. At Mass all the cabin names were announced. They are: Cabin 1 is “The Navigators” (GPS), Cabin 3 is the “The Cavaliers”, that’s my cabin, and Cabin 4 is “The Outlaws”. Then, we had a scavenger hunt after rest period. We went to the pool and swam for a while then played Water Polo. To top it, we had a BBQ, made by our delightful cook, Val. Then we had our Grade Discussion. Then, to top it off even more, we went to the awesome fireworks. And my 8th grade class stayed till 11 O’clock. A wonderful day all constructed by the staff and Mr. Arte.
Posted by: Ruben

Day 7: July 3

2010-07-06T20:31:00.002-04:00

Everybody was happy for the people that passed the Deep Water Test. For lunch, we ate pizza! After that we got to chill in our cabins for rest period. After that, everyone started to play a game in group activities. My Cabin played Man-Hunt. Towards the end of the game, David and I were the last one to survive not getting caught! We all had a nice time when Father Jack came up here to visit for the weekend. Father Jack had lots of things to talk about and everyone was paying close attention. Later on, each Cabin had to come up with a dance at the pool to see which game to play in the pool. The winner of the dance off was The Navigation! They came up with a dance that the Judges was impressed by their effort.
As I was in the shallow part of the pool, some campers were taking the Deep Water Test! I could see people struggling to finish. The smell was like chlorine and sweat mixed together. Yuck if you ask me! The splashing and thrashing of the water was intense! While they were swimming, they were taking mouthful of water. Much of them were getting tired, but they were getting encouraged by the staff and campers. Once they finished a stroke, they would touch the handle of the pool, take long breaths, and take off into the water. Once all the strokes were completed, they will have to tread water for thirty minutes. We would do a ten second count down so they could get excited. After the counselors would jump inside the pool and throw the campers around for completing the test.
Posted by: Kenneth P.

Day 5: July 1 (pt.2)

2010-07-06T07:03:00.000-04:00

On July 1, 2010, Cabin Four went on a hike up Cascade Mountain. It was a terrible day for them. It was terribly long. It wasn’t that long but it was painful. The reason was because I fell down about 6 times all thanks to the branches and holes on the ground (especially the mud). Most of the time I slipped but I regained my balance. At one time, Pimentel fell on me when there were too many rocks in front of me. I was so close to death but I luckily gained my balance (don’t worry mom). Then, a second time, I was about to fall on a lump of sharp rocks if I would’ve gone one more step. My toes were hurting a lot. At the top of Cascade it was freezing cold. We took two hours and thirty minutes to get to the top. Then I prayed that we would get down safely, and we did. It took us one hour and thirty minutes to get back down. My whole cabin was happy when we got to the bottom and even more relieved when we were sitting down. We had to wait for the rest of the campers who were a bit behind because of a sprained ankle. We left to camp safely, although I was weak from all the falls.

Posted by: Christian R.

Day 5: July 1

2010-07-03T14:36:00.002-04:00

Thursday was a cold overcast day. It rained and then it stopped. Cabin 4 was on a hike while the rest of the campers were in camp. They were exercising, playing, and swimming.

Cabin 4 was hiking Mt. Cascade. I kept complaining because we were going straight up without stopping. When we got to the top it was freezing cold. It was foggy, but then it went away. We saw roads, houses, lakes and cars from Mt. Cascade. It was much easier coming down the mountain than it was going up.

Posted by: Ariel

Message From the Director

2010-07-02T19:13:00.002-04:00

I hope that you are all enjoying the blog postings by your campers. They are enjoying writing them. Sorry for not so many pictures; the computer we use to upload pictures currently has a virus. We are working on it.

MORE IMPORTANTLY: Today we had a beautiful day so everyone was enjoying the pool, including me. HOWEVER, I WENT SWIMMING WITH MY CELL PHONE. I am working on getting a new one but it may take a few days. Until then, continue to call the camp phone or email me in order to get in touch.

Day 4: June 30

2010-07-02T14:45:00.002-04:00

Today started awfully cold with baseball clinic. Kenneth Cherry’s birthday was today. Also Cabin 3 tried to attack Cascade Mountain. Cabin 3 came back from their hike at 4:30 P.M. Kenneth Cherry got to choose what kind of cake he wanted and he didn’t get what he wanted so he got to choose what movie we were going to see. Kenneth chose The Karate Kid.

My cabin, Cabin 3, was going on a hike to Cascade Mountain. The hike was dirty and hard but it was an accomplishment because we were the first cabin to be back from a hike early. For our last hike, we are trying to climb Whiteface Mountain.

Shoutouts: Jean Carlos, Lemuel, Kenneth P.

Posted by: Gio

Day 3: June 29

2010-07-01T20:25:00.003-04:00

On Tuesday, Cabin 1 announced that they were going to hike Blueberry Mountain. We prepared by filling up the canteens, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and getting the trail mix ready. We got on the bus after classes and departed. Once we got there, we decided that the mountain was not hard because it was only 2.4 miles. The way up took 3 hours because there were some slower hikers and there were some slippery rocks. We never got to the top because we had climbed a long time and the top was no where in sight. The way down was the hardest part because it started raining and the rocks became even more slippery.
Some people slipped on the way down and some others barely had enough energy to get to camp. Once we got back to camp, it was dinner. We quickly ate and took showers. When we were done we played in the main hall, until movie time. We saw the end of The Mighty Ducks and soon went to sleep, with our minds set on the next day’s challenges.

Posted by: Aldo

Day 2: June 28

2010-06-30T15:01:00.002-04:00

When I woke up on the first full day of camp, I brushed my teeth and went straight to the dust bowl to play basketball. After that we went to breakfast and then had inspection followed by class. Although it was a little rainy, Mr. Arte introduced us to the Camp Monserrate talent show rules. For group activity my cabin played Capture the Flag. Then we had dinner and watched The Mighty Ducks.
The event I choose to focus on was free time. Free time was fun because we got to play with the counselors. We played basketball, baseball, and football in the dust bowl. The first full day was a little bit of a drag because we had to review the rules, but it turned out pretty good.

Posted by: Siree

Day 1: June 27

2010-06-29T14:30:00.002-04:00

Today begins the first in our series of student blogs. They are working on blogging in their ELA classes, so the posts will be a couple days late. Enjoy the first one, by Jeremy!

When we woke up we came to Nativity, the bus was there early. After that Father Jack blessed the bus and our parents waved us goodbye. When we were on the bus it took a long time to get to camp. When we arrived, we went to the basketball court to play some get-to-know games. When we finished, we went to unpack. Afterwards, we had a mini group discussion, then we ate dinner, then we had a couple of minutes of free time. After we had our fun time we went to the main hall to talk about the rules that we already knew, the staff also had a surprise for us, and they took us to the campfire. It was special because it was the first campfire on the first day in the history of Camp Monserrate, then we went to sleep to save our energy for the next day.

By: Jeremy

We've Arrived

2010-06-28T09:01:00.001-04:00

We have arrived at Camp Monserrate! After a long bus ride, the campers found out who was in their cabins, ate some delicious food made by Val, and then kicked off the camp season with an opening campfire.

Check out the first set of pictures to the right.

Stay tuned for blog postings written by the campers during their summer ELA classes! The first one will be published on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Kickoff Celebration

2010-06-15T07:39:00.003-04:00

Join us for mass at the Church of Nativity on 2nd Ave at 6 pm on Saturday, June 26! Fr. Jack will celebrate the start of summer camp with all their friends and family praying for a safe and fun summer.

Then, don't forget that we leave Nativity School on Sunday, June 27, at 8:30 am!

It's coming.....

2010-05-07T17:42:00.003-04:00

To prepare for Camp Monserrate 2010, last year's blog postings and pictures have been archived to the right side of the postings. Don't worry, all pictures and postings for Camp 2008 and 2009 are still easily found using those links on the right.

Get ready for summer 2010!!!

No Other Year Like 2009!

2009-07-31T23:37:00.003-04:00

Check out the video for the 2009 Camp Monserrate season...it was a great 5 weeks!

Go to the the 2009 Camp Photos link on the right.

Last Days of Camp

2009-07-30T08:57:00.003-04:00

Hello from the Adirondacks! We have been very busy this week with the challenge hike up Mount Marcy, Camper's Day, where the boys run camp as counselors, teachers, and directors, and preparing for our departure on Saturday morning.

Today at Camp, we will welcome back Fr. Jack and Mr. Lovallo. They will be here to joing in our celebration of St. Ignatius day, tomorrow.

Our departure from Camp will be on Saturday morning around 9 a.m. The boys should arrive at Nativity on Saturday afternoon around 3 p.m., depending on traffic conditions.

While we are all looking forward to seeing you, our families, again, we will be enjoying our last few days at camp!

See you all soon!

Saludos de Ms. Laguarda

2009-07-24T08:58:00.002-04:00

Hola!

Esta semana pude pasar más tiempo con los estudiantes de Nativity acá en el Camp Monserrate. De nuevo, estoy impresionada con que bien que esta todo acá en el campamento. Los estudiantes, están acostumbrados a la rutina, y ahora unas cosas divertidas vienen para darles un premio por sus trabajos todas estas semanas. Este fin de semana, vienen varios alumnos de la escuela de Nativity, incluyendo muchos quien trabajaron en el campamento en anos pasados. También viene Father Jack de nuevo. Es la competición del “Iron Man” y algunos de los estudiantes van a ir a mirar la carrera con los alumnos. También vamos a tener un fogón con los estudiantes de Saint Ignatius (otra escuela de Nativity en el Bronx, donde yo trabajo también) el sábado de noche. En la semana que viene, algunos de los estudiantes van a subir una montana que se llama “Marcy,” y es la montana más grande en todo el estado de New York. Y, si siguen bien las cosas, los estudiantes tendrán la oportunidad de estar en cargo del campamento un día, en una tradición que se llama “Campers’ Day.” Con todas estas actividades, es fácil estar entusiasmado, aun que son cuatro semanas sin sus familias, Playstations, camas, y la comidas conocidas.

Esta semana, pude hablar con algunos estudiantes, y por lo general, veo que todos quieren mejorar su comportamiento y se sienten cómodos con los demás y los counselors de Camp Monserrate. Mr. Staysniak, Mr. Arte, y C.J. están siempre pendientes de los estudiantes y se pasan hablando con ellos durante el día para ver si hay problema o queja.

Los estudiantes en todos los grupos fueron a un lago donde pudieron nadar y saltar de una roca. Ayer fui con Cabin 4 y fue muy divertido, varios saltaron de la roca, nadamos, almorzamos juntos y algunos participaron en una clase de yoga que di en el bosque, mirando al lago.

Mañana, me voy de nuevo para estar con mis hermanos y sobrinos. Como siempre, cualquier cosa, me pueden mandar un mail a laguarda@nativitymission.org.

Ana Laguarda

Highlights of Week 3

2009-07-17T07:10:00.002-04:00

The days are moving along quickly, and we have almost come to the end of Week 3. Here are some updates on what has been happening at camp.

On Monday, the Pride, from Cabin 1, took on Cascade Mountain. They had great weather and made good time going up and down the mountain. Here is a picture of the group after they finished their hike and had returned to the bottom. Look at those happy hikers!

Monday also brought a visit from our school principal, Mr. Lovallo. While he was here to check up on how the camp is running, he brought an awesome surprise of baseballs and bats. Thanks Mr. Lovallo!

On Tuesday, Cabin 2, the Spark, hiked Cascade again. While they did not bring the camera along, their reports from the mountain were great. We can only imagine what views they had from the top!

Wednesday was a special day at camp. Steven Collado, a seventh grader in Cabin 2, celebrated his birthday for the second time at camp. As is the tradition, he got a delicious cake from Val, a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday from the entire camp, and even offered a "happy birthday dance" to everyone as a thank you. Happy 12th Birthday Steven!

While Steven was dancing his birthday away at camp, Cabin 3, the Odyssey, was hard at work on Mount St. Regis. They got an almost perfect day for their hike and they reported that the mountain had terrific views on all sides.

Cabin 4, the Hustle, went for their hike on Thursday. They must have been persuaded by all the positive feedback they heard from Cabin 3 about Mt. St. Regis, because they chose to hike St. Regis too! Even though there was a rainy start to the day, the cabin pushed forward with the hike and was rewarded with a hazy but sunny day.

More updates this weekend as we welcome back Fr. Jack and former director, Mr. Salvatierra and his wife Mrs. Salvatierra!

Campers of the Week, Jobs, Forts, and Field Day!!!

2009-07-12T07:25:00.012-04:00

Campers of the Week

As the week of being Intellectually Distinguished comes to a close we honor those campers that have lived up to this ideal: making the right choices because you know how to and standing out for doing so. The honorable mentions are Matthew Garcia, Lemuel Bourne, Sergio Velazquez, and David Bernard. These three campers have had a terrific second week and are on their way to having an even better third week. The camper of the week was awarded to Malik Forrest and Adrian Suriel. Their ability to be intellectually distinguished really showed through this week. Great job!

Jobs

Speaking of great jobs, even though we have been here for two weeks now the place is looking just as good as when the campers first arrived. Each camper has certain jobs that they were hired for the entire summer as well as additional jobs that they could volunteer to do. The sixth graders are sweepers of the Main Hall (supervised by a seventh grader) and the seventh and eighth graders are sanitation workers (with an eighth grade supervisor). Also, campers could volunteer to get hired for hospitality (getting rooms ready for guests and showing them around) or sacristan (cleaning the chapel). If the campers show up to these jobs on time and do them well they are rewarded just like in real life with a paycheck later in the school year.

Campers complete even more jobs throughout the camp to ensure that everything runs smoothly. In the kitchen, Val and Roseanne get help with every meal from three Kitchen Patrol and one Kitchen Assistant staff. Each cabin has a waiter for the day responsible for getting more food from the KP staff and cleaning and sweeping after the meal. Campers clean their cabins every day (sweep, fold their clothes, and make their beds). After hikes, campers do their own laundry.

All-in-all, they do a great job cleaning!

Fort Building Competition

After two amazing weather days we are now back to the unpredictability of the mountain storms. Saturday's weather was like most up here: clear in the morning with rain storms in the afternoon only to clear up right at dinner time. But the fun and team work never stops. With the recycling truck not coming to take our cardboard away for two straight weeks we decided that it should be put to use. Each cabin had two teams that were given the task of constructing a fort from seven pieces of cardboard and one roll of duct tape. The fort was judged on looks, stability, and if it could fit one Mr. Arte comfortably inside. Many forts had additional accessories that made Mr. Arte feel at home, such as a TV set to college basketball. One had a toilet and another even had a missile launcher (but no missiles). The two forts from cabin one, The Pride, tied for first place. Who knows, maybe Mr. Arte will sleep in one some night if the rain lets up.

Field Day

The weather cleared just enough for the boys to participate in the 2009 Camp Monserrate Field Day. This camp wide activity offers the campers a chance to show off their many track and field, basketball, and throwing skills. Everyone had a blast and participated no matter their level of skill. As this blog is being posted they are at the pool getting a much deserved and refreshing swim in before dinner and Sunday camp fire!

Click here to see all the pictures from events in this post, the first ever Monserrate Geography Bee, and the entire camp season!

A Busy Week 2

2009-07-11T06:46:00.005-04:00

Week 2 of Camp is quickly coming to a close and the positive energy here at Monserrate is growing everyday. Finally, this week brought us some much needed sunshine. We hope that the clear weather continues.

On Tuesday, Cabin 2, the Spark, trekked their way up Hurricane Mountain. This is an especially interesting hike because of the fire tower on top of the mountain. As a way to prevent forest fires, people used to hike the mountain and camp out in the fire tower so they could observe the forest for miles and miles on each side.

Cabin 3, the Oddessey, decided to challenge themselves with a trip to Haystack Mountain. Only a 5 minute drive from camp, the mountain offers view of Lake Placid, and some say - of camp it self! Here is a picture of the Oddessey at the peak of Haystack, with Lake Placid just visible to the right.

Following in the footsteps of Cabin 3, the Hustle in Cabin 4 decided to hike the same trail that leads to Haystack but go even further up to the peak of Mt. McKenzie. While this mountain doesn't offer a true "peak" of open rock and great views, there are small lookout points that provide nice peeks of Lake Placid.

To end the week, the Unexpected in Cabin 5 took Mr. Arte along in their trip up Noonmark Mt. The clear weather was said to have contributed to a great team-building experience for the cabin.

Lots happens in two days of Camp!

2009-07-06T19:21:00.011-04:00

Our Fourth of July was windy, chilly, and fun! The eighth graders took their traditional trip into the town of Lake Placid with Fr. Jack and CJ to watch the fireworks over Mirror Lake. This is a great reward for the hard work these veterans have put into the camp season so far.

During Sunday Talk, Mr. Staysniak awarded the first two Camper of the Week awards to James Mai and David Bernard. In the eyes of their counselors and the camp staff, these two eigth graders showed an exceptional desire to be open to growth during this first week of camp. Congratulations to these two - they are making the right choices to have a successful camp season.

The Camp Monserrate Scavenger hunt took place on Sunday afternoon. The entire camp took the afternoon to work in teams of three to find as many items on the scavenger hunt list as possible. Different items on the list received different amounts of points. Many of the boys went for the "big point" items like frogs, tadpoles, and even fish! Here are the boys enjoying the muddy outdoors as they look for something to capture.

Finally, on Sunday night, each cabin unveiled their cabin names. We are now proud to say that instead of Cabins 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, our camp has the Pride, the Spark, the Oddessey, the Hustle, and the Unexpected. The Pride used their new name as motivation for the climb up Roostercomb Mt. on Monday.

Make sure to look at our online photo album to see lots of other photos along with a delicious desert we had last night, made espectially unique thanks to Mr. Arte's newly discovered cake decorating skills.

Rain or Shine!

2009-07-04T15:35:00.007-04:00

Weather at Camp continues to be unpredictable. Windy and rainy one minute, sunny the nexst, and back to rain. The boys, however, are still putting their full effort into all of the activities Camp.

On Friday, the a rain shower kept out of the pool during our normal afternoon pool period. Instead of letting the bad weather put them in a sour mood, the boys excitedly took part in a paper airplane building contest. In teams of three, one boy from each grade, the boys had five sheets of paper to make a plane that had to fly at least 25ft. Of the five planes that flew the required distance of 25ft., a winner was decided by throwing the best planes at the same time and seeing which plane went the farthest. The winning team of Joelve Rodriguez, Jeremy Jimenez, and Gio Perez, threw their plane almost 50ft! Here is a picture of the five best plans being thrown by one of the team members.

While we were enjoying our contest indoors, Cabin 5 attacked Ampersand mountain. Despite some rather windy and rainy conditions, they reached the top of the mountain and were even home in time for dinner!

We welcomed three guests from Nativity to camp this weekend: Fr. Jack, Br. Jerry, and Ms. O'Leary, a new teacher at NMC. It is always a thrill for the boys to share the experience of camp with those who come to stay with us. Sadly, with the arrival of new guests, we said goodbye to Ms. Laguarda, our school psychologist, yoga instructor, and full-time hiker (four mountains in four days, WOW!). Luckily for us, she will be back to camp later this month. Check out Ms. Laguarda the hiker in action with Cabin 4 - they conquered Cascade Mountain on a foggy Thursday.

Our Fourth of July was rather rainy and chilly, but the weather did break long enough for seven campers to pass the intermediate swim test. The entire camp was there to cheer them on and many people reported that the cheers could be heard all the way down the pool path, back at camp!

Update on Camp

2009-07-02T19:17:00.008-04:00

This morning we said goodbye to Mr. Glowacki, who is heading to San Francisco and then back to Poland. He has given two years of great service to the Nativity family and we will miss him a lot. We will also miss his amazing photography skills and dedication to keeping up our blog!

Cabin 4 conquered Cascade Mountain today, which is one of the 50 highest peaks in the Adirondak region. The total length of the hike is about 5 miles, and the elevation is 4,098 feet. It was a bit rainy and foggy at the top, which made it feel like the campers were (in their words) "inside a cloud."

The other cabins had a great day in the pool and doing group activities, and we all enjoyed delicious chicken "cordon bleu" (Val-style) for a hard-earned dinner.

The cabins are working on picking the names and related identities that they want for themselves as they finish up their first week of camp. Mr. Staysniak, Mr. Arte, and C.J have been reminding us all to keep the values of this year's camp in mind as we choose who we want to be this summer and onwards. So far, the cabins have been working well together and we have been impressed to see new leaders emerging within the Nativity community.

The weather has been a bit funky so far, with sun and clouds in the morning turning to clouds and rain in the afternoon. However, despite this un-July-like weather, the camp has not let this weather dampen the overall mood. On the few occasions that rain has forced us to stay in the main hall, the cabins have spent time learning about eachother playing trust building activities.

We have been swimming twice a day and spending as much time outside as possible. Capture the flag, dodgeball, and even softball have been some of the choices for afternoon group activity thus far.

When the sun finally gets here to stay, we will be ready!

Saludos de Ms. Laguarda

2009-07-01T19:03:00.003-04:00

Saludos a todos de Ms. Laguarda, la psicóloga escolar de Nativity! Es mi 3rd día en el campamento, y estoy MUY contenta y divertida. En general, los estudiantes se están portando muy bien: los del octavo grado ayudando a los menores y los del sexto grado con buen humor y con ganas de aprender. Los del séptimo grado también están mostrando como ser un buen amigo y estudiante de Nativity.

Hoy fui con los del “Cabin 3” a una montana que se llama “Rooster Comb.” No fue tan difícil como el de ayer (“Blueberry Mountain”), pero fue igual de lindo cuando llegamos arriba a comer los sándwiches y disfrutar la vista.

Los del octavo grado ayudaron mucho a los menores a subir la montaña—Brian llevo agua de 5 personas, Luis hacia cuentos, Fernando sabia toda la ruta y nos contaba cuanto nos quedaba, y James tenia siempre buen humor.

Sergio nos hico reír en pila, porque siempre se metía en los charcos de agua y también camino un rato con 10 kilos de rocas, para tratar de ganar el derecho a tomar la primera ducha. Kenny y Siree andaban siempre con buen humor y disfrutando, y Aldo, aun que tuvo dificultad a la subida, bajó casi corriendo y riéndose muchísimo.

Los del sexto grado—Rafael, Christian, y Christian, eran expertos desde el principio, sin problema y disfrutando. Aun ayudaron a los otros, llevando cosas extras como camperas para la lluvia, que nunca vino, porque tuvimos siempre mucho sol.

Si quieren ver fotos, mirar el link de www.picasaweb.google.com/campmonserrate09

Estoy hablando con todos los estudiantes en mi tiempo acá, y por ahora todo muy bien y todos muy contentos. Espero que ustedes estén bien! Cualquier cosa, me pueden mandar un mail a laguarda@nativitymission.org

Expect Courageous Choices

2009-06-30T21:18:00.008-04:00

That's the theme of this year's camp. Three important words and message laying behind it. Expectations. Courage. Choices. From the very beginning Nativity wants to set the bar high for the students giving them at the same time all the support they will need to accomplish their goals. However, even with that it requires a lot of courage from the boys to take up that challenge and follow that path. Each day they will have to make choices which will either confirm or deny their commitment to the values behind those expectations.

Camp is a great time to do that. The expectations are set pretty high - the daily schedule is filled from 7.20 am to after 10 pm with activities varying from cleaning the cabin and helping in the kitchen to classes, swimming and long hikes in the mountains. Even more is expected from raising 7th and 8th graders, as they know the reality of the camp from last year and are expected to teach the rookies the way the camp works.

They need a lot of courage as well. Sometimes it may mean a courage to wake up at night, get out of nice and toasty sleeping bag and make a trip to the bathroom through rather dark main field. On other time it may be a courage to overcome a dislike of tomato soup, grilled cheese or other type of food which a camper doesn't like. It may be a courage to jump to cold pool and let your body float as you don't feel the ground under your feet or taking a leap from one rock to another to climb some of the highest mountains in New York State.

Cabin 2 had today especially a chance to prove their choices on the last ground, as they were on the first hike this camp season - hiking the Blueberry Mountain. For some of them it was the first mountain in their life and they did pretty good job putting their best effort in climbing it. They definitely raised up to the expectations, were very courageous (especially at more steep moments...) and made enough good choices to climb up and down the mountain. It was impressive many times to hear a camper saying that his legs hurt, and immediately after being asked "so what is your choice?", answering "I'll keep on going". It was impressive to see how students were taking other's backpacks, sharing water and supporting each other with a good word.

At the same time, back in the camp the other students were trying to build up a brotherhood in their cabins by playing different games which required a lot of teamwork. They also needed to have courage to forget sometimes about their own needs to let the whole cabin succeed. It's not always easy to do... all of us need to learn courageous choices...

If you want to see some of the photos from the hike, click here, and from the day at camp - here.

The First Full Day

2009-06-29T22:30:00.006-04:00

The first full day at the camp began fo some of the campers before the 6 am. That was the time some of the people were woken up by pouncing basketballs. After couple of minutes the bounces were more and more frequent and it was clear that most of the camp is awake.

Those noises were getting more and more audible until 7.50 when the bell rang and the whole camp assembled in front of the main hall. If there was anyone in Lake Placid still asleep definitely he wasn't after the whole camp answered Mr. Staysniak's "Good Morning", which was followed by the first morning talk and prayer.

After the breakfast there was first cleaning of the cabins, followed by inspection and

first classes. The kids got to know who are their teachers and who is in their classes. After writing and math classes half of the camp went for the first time to the pool and the other half continued classes with silent reading. The groups switched after an hour.

The activities in the pool began with introducing the "buddy system" Each of the rookies is paired up with a veteran who knows how to swim and is teaching it his younger buddy. That allows them to really quickly learn the basic swimming skills and feel more comfortably in the water. During the afternoon period in the pool there was a swimming instructor from Lake Placid who assessed the campers how well them swim. That allowed to divide them in differ

ent groups and master their skills according to their abilities.

Couple of minutes after lunch we welcomed Ms. Laguarda, a school psychologist who came here for the first week to get to know the rookies, help the boys adjust to being away from home, and to make sure that they are well here. She will be in the camp for the first and fourth week and during those times is going to talk individually to each of the boys.

We finished the day with dinner, first group discussion followed by the group activities and the first part of the first movie - "Remember the Titans". Lots of "firsts" today...

The First Day

2009-06-28T23:49:00.006-04:00

The first day in the Camp Monserrate just came to the closure. All the campers are sleeping peacefully surrounded by the sounds of nature. The sleep is well deserved. After 6 hours of riding a bus we arrived a little bit after 3 pm to Lake Placid, greeted by the Reis family, and all the counsellors. After an hour of different games which helped the campers and the counsellors to get to know each other better we got to know who is going to be in which cabin. This year, because of much larger number of campers Cabin 2 was brought back to life. The time before dinner was spend on getting to know cabin mates and unpacking the backpacks and suitcases.Another people who welcomed us here were Val, and RoseAnn - two cooks who will take care of al our meals. The burgers which we had for dinner were disappearing quite immediately. After dinner there was time for a Sunday talk in which the Camp Director - Mr. Staysniak explained how important the camp is. The talk was followed by group activities and another meeting in which all the campers got to know the schedule and rules which are to be followed here. We finished a day with a prayer in the chapel. Tomorrow will be the first day run according to the usual camp schedule.

I'd like to share also couple of my own reflections at the end of this post. After teaching in Nativity for two years, being a counsellor in the camp last year, today's trip brought me back many memories. I am happy to be here to take some photos, write few posts on the blogs and spend some time with this great community, From the very morning I could feel the special spirit of the camp, eagerness of the rookies to get all the things right and excitement of the veterans to help them with it. It seems like a good start for a very succesful summer. There are already some pictures from the departure and from the first day up in Lake Placid. Hopefully there are more to come. You can check them out here.

Parent Meetings and Important Paperwork

2009-05-17T17:23:00.017-04:00

As we prepare for your camper's departure to Lake Placid on June 28th at 8:30 AM (PLEASE ARRIVE AT NATIVITY NO LATER THAN 8:00 AM SO THAT WE HAVE TIME TO PACK THE BUS AND LEAVE ON TIME!), we want to keep you up to date about what will be happening during the five weeks of camp. Please attend one of the following Parent Orientations at Nativity in order to turn in or receive all necessary paperwork, meet the camp staff, and learn about what is planned for the summer.

New Parent Orientation - Tuesday, June 2nd @ 6:00 PM

Returning Parent Orientation - Wednesday, June 3rd @ 6:00 PM

There will also be a mass held the night before your camper departs in order to pray for and celebrate the upcoming journey. This mass will take place on Saturday, June 27th @ 5:00 PM. All families are invited to attend this special ceremony at Nativity Church on 2nd Avenue

Click here to be taken to a webpage that has all the paperwork you have received just in case you may have misplaced any forms and you need another, such as the packing list.

Preparing for 2009

2009-05-11T10:51:00.002-04:00

In preparation for the upcoming 2009 camp season, all 2008 camp posts have been archived. You may access these posts by clicking on the “2008 ” link under "Blog Archive" to the right. In addition, all photos from the 2008 camp season are still available by clicking on the “2008 Camp Photos” link found under "Links" to the right.

Camp Video

2008-08-02T07:30:00.004-04:00

Below you can see part of a video which we prepared for the last night with the pictures from thouroughout the camp. Hopefully the rest of it will find its way to the blog in the near future as well.

And here are the pictures from last night of the camp!

And for your information - if you are wondering if your son received camp shirt - we can officially announce that he did as well as other 46 boys!

Campers of the Year

2008-08-02T07:28:00.000-04:00

Here they are:

Great job guys!

Coming home . . .

2008-08-01T16:58:00.003-04:00

We just finished a pretty intense time of cleaning. The boys worked incredibly hard to get this place in good shape to leave. In my three years at camp, the place has never been this clean for the departure.

We hope to be pulling out of camp tomorrow morning at about 9am. Unless there is serious traffic, we should be pulling into Nativity between 3pm and 4pm.

The boys seem sad to be leaving camp, but certainly excited to be seeing their families. They pray for their families every single morning.

It is my hope that you will see a group of boys step off that bus that have grown and matured over the last 5 weeks.

It's hard to believe that we have just about made it . . .

Week 4 Campers of the Week

2008-08-01T16:55:00.002-04:00

Another late announcement:

Honorable mentions for week four:
Ivan Paulino
Daniel Segura

Campers of the Week for week four:
Jorge Aguilar
Francisco Contreras
Mikal Thomas

Congrats to those guys!!

Last Days...

2008-08-01T07:26:00.002-04:00

As the camp is inevitably heading to its end things are speeding up. Campers day, Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, and swimming carnival were definitely very succesful landmarks of this time... Click on the event to go to the pictures of these events!

Challenge Hike 2008

2008-07-29T22:24:00.003-04:00

When couple of days ago Mr. Salvatierra announced that the best hikers from each cabin are going to hike the tallest mountain in New York State those two words started to electrify camp. many of 7th and 8th Graders (only they could o on this hike) were asking their counselors about such a possibility. Only 3 or 4 from each of the cabin were chosen to go...

The day before the hike all of the hikers gathered in he dining hall to prepare sandwiches, trail mix and fill water bottles. After that we went to the chapel and pray for a night talk and prayer. While all of the camp was still watching a movie the hikers went to beds to be well rested for the early wake up. We wake up at 4.30 and... The rest is here:

Week 4 Water Fun

2008-07-26T09:54:00.004-04:00

This past week, we had many opportunities to enjoy the water up here in the mountains. A couple of groups got to hike to Copperas Pond, a favorite spot of Camp Monserrate where there is a great jumping rock and a perfect pond to swim in.

As well, a number of groups went on Stream Walking expeditions near camp. They got to put on their water shoes and go tromping through the stream up to the dam by Lake Placid.

A finally, those who have passed the deep water swim test were able to go on Canoeing trips on Lake Placid!

For the highlights of our week four water fun, click here.

Campers of the Week (week 3)

2008-07-26T07:34:00.004-04:00

Sorry it has been a while since we have posted. Things have just gotten busier as the end of the camp season is approaching. Hopefully we will be able to get out a few more posts before the end of the summer. But we will be boarding the bus to head home officially one week from today! Can you believe how fast the time has passed?

This past week, we awarded some more camper of the week awards. They deserve to be recognized here for their hard work and dedication to the values of camp!

The honorable mentions went to three people: a 6th, 7th and 8th grader. Osaze Wilson was our 6th grade winner,
Alex Tavarez was our 7th grade winner,
and Jorge Aguilar was our 8th grade winner.
Congrats to those guys for their hard word!

This week two T-shirts were given out for Camper of the Week! A 6th grader surprised everyone this week by earning this honor! Congrats to Steven Collado!

And we had one more 8th grader join the ranks of camper of the week! Congrats to Henry Romero!

We're really proud of the excellent effort from all of these guys!

The Math Bowl

2008-07-22T11:18:00.008-04:00

The second visit of Sr. Connie, who arrived on Sunday, told us that inevitably the Math Bowl was approaching. During Monday math classes we have been revising our math vocabulary to make sure that we are not confusing polygons with proportions and know that the midpoint is exactly in the middle of a segment.
Finally the bell rang for us to grab some chairs and gather on the basketball court. When we were all set up Mr. Staysniak announced the beginning of the First Outdoor Math Bowl.

Campers chosen by their teachers to participate lined up on the side of the court and Sr. Connie started to ask the questions. Unfortunately for each of the participants a single mistake meant "Good Bye" to the tournament. However, after a couple of minutes the line was still quite long... At the end there were two students left on the field of battle: Kenneth and Ed. The fight between a rookie and a veteran was won by the later, as you can see on the picture - much to his surprise...
Congrats Edward!!

More pictures can be found here!

The Ironman Weekend

2008-07-21T11:11:00.007-04:00

This past weekend Lake Placid was hosting probably one of the toughest sports competitions one can imagine. On Sunday morning more than 2,300 athletes started a race in which they had to swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and at the end run a marathon distance of 26.2 miles. It must have been a real challenge--especially in the pouring rain we had on Sunday.

It's been a tradition here, that during the weekend of Ironman Competition in town, campers compete in different sports with the counselors. On Saturday, the counselors' team had to face three teams one after another. On each of those teams were playing all campers from each grade. The counselors took this challenge quite seriously not allowing any of those teams to win. More pictures are here.

Sunday morning began for some of us with seeing the start or the real Ironman Competition in Lake Placid. A group of 9 campers and 2 counselors gathered at 6.10 AM and went to town to see the beginning of the race. As soon as they came back the rain started to fall. And didn't stop until the evening. Because of that we had to postpone another Campers vs. Counselors game and we started to compete in slightly different way...

This time the task was more to show the engineering skills rather that the strength of muscles. Teams of three people, having $5 and a not greatly supplied camp store had to design some kind of device that would help an egg to survive a fall from different heights.

We could use supplies like cardboard, plastic cups, cotton balls or plastic bags. After about an hour of preparing, dropping began. First, from waistline, after that from shoulders and above the head. A Couple of eggs still survived that, so we were moving up - dropping the eggs from standing on a chair, table, loft and finally from the silo (about 50 feet).

Much to surprise of many, three eggs survived even this crushing experience... The designers of these protection devices were Ruben, Joelve and Freddie; counselors, and Awildo - one of the shop owners... Click here to see the pictures.

The Prophets (Cabin 5) - Mt. Algonquin (and then some . . . )

2008-07-19T11:32:00.002-04:00

The Prophets decided that they weren't going to let just one cabin hike the second highest mountain in New York State. So they decided to hike Mt. Algonquin as well. It was a super windy day as they reached the top, so they had to huddle around each other to each their lunch.

On their way down, a small group (along with Mr. Arte) decided that one mountain wasn't enough. A few of the guys then decided to hike Wright Peak as well. They made it back to camp quite exhausted, but proud of their accomplishment!!

Enjoy the pictures here!

SOGA (Cabin 4) - Giant Mountain

2008-07-19T11:28:00.003-04:00

SOGA got an early start on Thursday and hiked one of the hardest mountains we do up here, Giant Mountain. It is not challenging because of the length -- the round trip is about 6 miles. It is most challenging because when you hike up those three miles, it is straight up! These guys rose to the challenge, which included hiking over 3,000 ft. of elevation in three miles; which is equivalent to climbing 300 floors of stairs! The summit of Giant lies at 4,627 ft and it is the 12th highest peak in NY State, one of the steepest hikes in the Adirondacks. The entire cabin worked together to get up and down the mountain safely and were quite tired when they arrived at camp for their dinner.

Enjoy the pictures here!

Campers of the Week (Week 2)

2008-07-19T11:15:00.003-04:00

So I realized as I was looking through the blog today, that we never announced to you the winners of "Camper of the Week" from the second week. Since we are about to award it again for week three tomorrow, I thought I should get it up here before then!

Our honorable mentions went to three guys:
Jeremy Jimenez
Draven Chavous
James Mai

Each of these guys have been doing excellent up here! They have been setting a great example for all of us!

And once again, two awards were given for camper of the week, both of them 8th graders. They are:

Onix Graciani

and Edward Urena

Congratulations to them both!

The Spartans (Cabin 3) - Snow Mountain

2008-07-17T11:57:00.002-04:00

The Spartans got in a great hike on Wednesday! They tackled Snow Mountain. Enjoy the pictures here.

Happy Birthday Onix and Steven!

2008-07-17T11:48:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week we celebrated two more birthdays at camp!

Happy Birthday to Onix Graciani!

Happy Birthday to Steven Collado!

Unfortunately, that does it for the camp birthdays. But maybe we can convince Val to make us some more cake just for fun!

Farewell Fr. Jack!

2008-07-17T08:53:00.003-04:00

We were sad yesterday to say farewell to a very special person up here at camp. Fr. Jack has been with us almost since the beginning. Many of you know Fr. Jack well. For those that don't, he is a very important person in the history of Nativity. Having served at one time as principal, president, teacher, etc., he has spent time at Camp Monserrate every summer for the past 24 years.

While at camp this year he was our chaplain, saying mass for us almost every day. On top of this he drove the bus for hikes each week. We will miss having him around, but wish him well on the remainder of his summer!

The Magi (Cabin 1) - Algonquin Peak

2008-07-17T07:35:00.002-04:00

The Magi decided to go big this week. They started early and hiked the 2nd highest peak in New York State - Algonquin Peak. Armed with plenty of water, trail mix, and sandwiches, they reached the top and enjoyed a beautiful view. Here are all the pictures.

Field Day 2008

2008-07-15T09:50:00.004-04:00

On Sunday, we had scheduled that 2008 Camp Monserrate Field Day. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate so we had the rap competition instead. But the Field Day was only postponed one day. On Monday the boys gathered with others from their grade and competed in 6 different events.

The events were . . .

The 50-yard Dash:

The Baseball Aim:

The Layup Competition:

The Long Jump:

The Running of the Bases:

The Soccer Ball Distance Kick:

After all of the competitions were over, we emerged with an overall winner in each grade:

6th: Jason Taveras
7th: Brian Hernandez
8th: Edward Urena

As always, for all of the pictures you can click here to get to the camp photo album.

The Prophets (Cabin 5) on Mt. Phelps

2008-07-14T10:18:00.002-04:00

This post is a few days late in coming, but here are the pictures from the Prophets' hike of Mt. Phelps. Not an easy climb. Click here for all of the pictures.

Rainy-Day-Rap-Off

2008-07-14T09:33:00.008-04:00

Due to not the best weather on Sunday, instead of having outdoor activities we held a Rainy Day Rap Competition.

The Students were rapping in teams of 3 or 4, creating text about rainy days on the camp. After about 45 minutes of preparation they were to perform in front of very strict jury.

After rehearsing 15 teams we had a tie for first place. Two teams were asked to perform one more time. Finally, the Spartans' team of Draven, Michael and Osaze won the competition beating Jorge Q., Li Juan, David and Steven. For more pictures, click here.

SOGA (Cabin 4) - Wright Peak

2008-07-12T08:57:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful day on the mountain for SOGA (Soldiers of God's Army). Check out all of their pictures here.

The Spartans (Cabin 3)

2008-07-12T07:18:00.001-04:00

Because of bad weather and a hard-to-find trailhead, the Spartans did two short hikes instead of one long one. Check out the pictures here. It stills seems like it was a great day for their cabin!

The Magi (Cabin 1) - Mt. Hopkins

2008-07-12T07:16:00.002-04:00

The Magi had a beautiful hike up Mt. Hopkins on Tuesday. Pictures are here.

Beautiful Lake Placid

2008-07-12T07:09:00.000-04:00

We are quite blessed to get to spend the month in such a beautiful setting. Lake Placid is situated in the heart of Adirondack State Park. There are over 6 million acres of park land scattered with mountains, lakes and forests. This is the sunrise view from the spot where we take out our canoes.

Typical Day at Camp

2008-07-10T17:27:00.004-04:00

So I realized, in the midst of all of these posts about special events, that some of you might be wondering what a typical day at camp looks like. It normally goes a little something like this:

6:30am - Our early risers are up either taking showers or on the basketball court. Mr. Salvatierra, Ari or Mr. Staysniak keeps watch over the yard.

7:20am - The first bell rings. Everyone is up and out of the showers getting ready for the day. Our KP and KA staff report to the kitchen to get ready for breakfast. Our 6th and 7th grade sweeping crew head up to the main hall to get it cleaned up for the day. Some students might head out for a morning sports clinic in either cross country, soccer, football, basketball or swimming.

7:50am - The second bell rings and we gather for morning assemble. Here, we hear announcements, say the pledge of allegiance and the Nativity pledge. Following this we start our day with a reading from the Gospel and a prayer before heading into breakfast.

8:05am - Breakfast!

8:45am - Campers hurry to their cabins to get them neat and tidy before being inspected by Ari, Mr. Staysniak or Mr. Salvatierra.

9:45am - Campers head to morning classes. They take classes in writing and math. As well, they all are assigned silent reading books to read throughout the summer.

11:30am - Campers head to the pool to work on their strokes. At camp, they learn freestyle, breaststroke, sidestroke, and backstroke.

12:45pm - After changing out of their pool clothes, campers have a little bit of free time before lunch.

1:00pm - A delicious lunch prepared by Val! Meals go on for a bit in order to encourage community in the cabin and good manners.

2:00pm - A much needed rest period. Students are allowed to rest, read or write letters home. (So if you haven't gotten a letter yet, ask them why not!!)

2:50pm - Group Activity. Cabins play some sort of outdoor game together as a cabin. They are encouraged to help each other and cheer each other on. Sportsmanship is a big part of group activity!

4:00pm - Another trip to the pool! The afternoon pool period is a time when the older students are able to work one on one with the younger students to help them with their swimming strokes. We already have a bunch of great swimmers!

5:30pm - A little more free time before dinner!

6:00pm - Dinner time! At the end of the meal, often times some "shout-outs" are given to students who have had excellent days!

7:00pm - Group Discussion. This is the time of day when cabins talk together about the themes of camp. Some examples of discussion topics are: community, love, respect, trust, desire, and most important, Integrity and Pride.

8:00pm - In order to get their last bits of energy out, we have another short group activity with the cabins.

8:30pm - Students gather in the main hall for about 50 minutes of a movie. Our first movie of the summer was "Remember the Titans."

9:40pm - Students brush their teeth, wash up, and head to the chapel.

9:50pm - In the chapel, we talk about the day and how we are doing as a camp. We pray together before heading to our cabins.

10:00pm - Lights out!

Monday through Saturday normally follows more or less this same schedule. Sundays are always a nice change of pace with Mass in the morning and a campfire at night!

KP and KA

2008-07-08T09:49:00.002-04:00

These initials have special significance here at Camp Monserrate. Val is the best cook in the Adirondacks and works like crazy to keep all 60 of us happy and healthy throughout the summer. But she does not take care of the kitchen alone. Each day there are three campers (normally one 6th, one 7th and one 8th grader) who are in charge of helping in the kitchen throughout the meals. They are known as the KP staff (kitchen prep). They set the tables, serve the food, and help do the dishes. While they are sometimes rewarded with extra desserts, it is a tiring job!

The 8th graders are also responsible for another job each meal. The KA (kitchen assistant) is Val's right-hand-man for the meal. He oversees the KP staff and makes sure that everything runs smoothly. As well, if you call during a meal time, most likely it is the KA that first picks up the phone.

Just like everything up here at camp, the students are responsible for keeping us up and running. And they have been doing a great job so far!

Scavenger Hunt

2008-07-07T09:55:00.002-04:00

Each year, on the first full weekend of camp, we hold our annual Scavenger Hunt. Students are given a list of things they might find in the nature around camp, and they are given points for each thing they find. Some of examples of things found on the list are pine needles, maple leaves, ants, moths, crickets and frogs. The harder to find, the more points they earn!

There are always a few brave souls that get themselves quite muddy in their effort to win the scavenger hunt. This year's winners were Brian Hernandez and Ivan Paulino!

To see some of the photo highlights, click here.

Campers of the Week

2008-07-07T06:53:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe that we have finished one whole week of camp! Time is certainly flying by!

Every Sunday morning, after our cabin cleaning, we gather in the main hall for what is called "Sunday Talk". This is a time when we review our theme from the previous week (Open to Growth) and we talk about the theme for the week to come. This week Ari Herrera, the assistant director, shared his thoughts on the second Grad at Grad quality of Nativity: Loving. Ari spoke about three types of love: 1) Self-Love, 2) Love for others, 3) Allowing others to love you. To help illustrate his point, he allowed a number of Nativity graduates to come forward and share what love at Nativity has meant to them. Each one of them spoke powerfully about the way that Nativity has loved them over the years, and has taught them how to love themselves and others.

Following the Sunday talk is a very important time of the week. It is when we introduce our "Campers of the Week". The staff stays up late on Saturday nights to discuss the students that deserve this highest honor. We want to honor the students who are doing the right thing day in and day out. These students should be living out these themes that we talk about and always acting with integrity and pride. It is certainly not easy to earn the title of Camper of the Week.

This week, two honorable mentions were given to Mikal Thomas and Francisco Contreras. They have been working hard since the first day and setting a great example with their actions - constantly helping and encouraging wherever it is needed. Congratulations to these guys! If they keep working hard, they could earn the honor of camper of the week in the coming weeks!

And now onto the big winners . . .

This week's Campers of the Week are Gadriel Rivera and Nicky Peralta.

Gadriel has been working hard and setting a great example since the first day. He is always volunteering for responsibilities and taking on extra jobs. Val has said that he is one of the most helpful people in the kitchen. He motivates his cabin and has helped them to succeed throughout this first week. We have seen great growth in Gadriel this summer and are looking forward to much more!

Nicky has also been setting a great example for his cabin. He takes his role as an 8th grader seriously. He has emerged as one of the true leaders of his cabin. When it is easy to get negative and criticize people for not doing what they are supposed to, Nicky has done a great job of keeping things positive. His counselors describe him as a motivator in the cabin, always willing to help out those who need it. He has definitely shown in this first week that he is open to growth.

Congrats to both Nicky and Gadriel!